Re: [PATCH 1/2] fort_dyn_array: add basic fortran dyn array support

Yao Qi
2016-01-22T15:25:59Z

Joel Brobecker <brobecker@adacore.com> writes:

> I don't think that reverting without more investigation is a good
> idea. I quickly looked at a good dozen of those reports, and, as
> far as I know, these are new FAILs, so we don't know that they are
> regressions. I could also be compiler issues.

They are fails of tests for the new feature, so they aren't
regressions. It could be compiler issues, of course.

>
> There is also the fact that reviewing these patches took me not
> just hours, but actually days in total (I don't know how much time
> Keven et al also spent answering all my comments). I would prefer
> re-doing all that work only if we have confirmation that this is
> causing a critical problem that we can't fix without Keven's help.

Your review efforts are not lost if the patch is reverted. Keven or
some one else will work on the basis of it, so everything, such as
comments and code style, should be still there.

The reviewing efforts shouldn't justify keeping something in GDB, which
breaks tests at the beginning. Patches are reviewed in the scope of
reviewers' knowledge and experience, so nobody knows the effects of
patches on the complicated software, such as GDB, on some certain env.
It is reasonable to me that patches still cause regressions after
several rounds of careful reviews, but it doesn't mean we should take
them in source tree.

>
> That being said - it doesn't bode well for the future of this
> feature if the authors don't have time to look into issues they
> create...

Yes, I agree.

In short, I am not strongly against this patch as it doesn't cause
critical problem, and I can live up with it. However, it would be nice
to revert it.

--
Yao (齐尧)

P.S.

"A feature which is omitted can always be added later, when its design
and its implications are well understood. A feature which is included
before it is fully understood can never be removed later."

-- C.A.R. Hoare, The Emperor's Old Clothes, 1980 Turing Award Lecture